Glen Galemmo had asked to serve six years in prison on one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering when he was sentenced Thursday.

But the judge instead gave Galemmo 188 months in prison, slightly more than the 12 to 15 years prosecutors asked for.

“What makes Galemmo’s conduct so egregious – and separates him from a defendant who embezzles money from his employer or commits mortgage fraud – is that he lied to investors on a daily basis, over and over again, over the course of many years, and in so doing, he destroyed the financial future of countless individuals,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Glatfelter told the court prior to sentencing.

Prosecutors said previously that Galemmo cheated investors out of millions of dollars through an elaborate scheme he ran out of Queen City Investments in East Price Hill for nearly eight years. Investigators identified approximately 140 victims of Galemmo’s scheme.

Little of that money was spent by Galemmo. Instead, the money went to other investors or to other business interests.

"He created falsehood after falsehood to sustain this, and just like any Ponzi scheme, after a particular amount off time, things will happen and these things do collapse," Head of Criminal Division U.S. Attorney's Office Kenneth Parker said in January when the guilty plea was announced.

The Obama administration will unveil a major climate change plan Monday aimed at a large reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the nation's coal-burning power plants, a senior administration official told CNN.